Organ Meats for Dogs: Nature's Multivitamin (and Why It's Not Complicated)
- Jul 9
- 3 min read
If you've spent any time in raw-feeding circles, you've probably bumped into a string of numbers: 80/10/10. It's shorthand for a "balanced" raw diet — roughly 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, and 10% organ (with about half of that organ portion usually being liver). If you’ve known me for any length of time, you know I hate this term “balanced raw diet”. I don’t believe there is such a thing as a “balanced raw diet”. 80/10/10 is a guide like the food pyramid is for humans. You should never stress yourself out about fitting every meal into this guide.
Here's the part that matters most: you don't need to weigh, calculate, or obsess over that ratio to feed organs well. Think of it less like a formula and more like a habit where organs show up regularly in the bowl, roughly a small fraction of the total, and that's genuinely it. No scale required, no spreadsheet, no stress.
Why Organs Matter
Each piece of the raw diet plays a role. Muscle meat provides protein and amino acids. Bone supplies calcium and phosphorus. But organs? Organs are where a huge share of the diet's micronutrients live. They're so nutrient-dense that they're often called the "multivitamin" of a raw diet and for good reason.
Liver alone is one of the most concentrated natural sources of vitamin A, copper, iron, and B vitamins. Other secreting organs like kidney and spleen bring their own mineral profiles. Skip the organ portion and you're not just leaving flavor on the table you're leaving out nutrition that's genuinely hard to replace.
A Quick Guide to Common Organ Meats
Different organs bring different strengths to the bowl. Here's a simple rundown. No need to memorize it, just a helpful reference:
Liver — The workhorse of the organ portion, and one of the most concentrated natural sources of vitamin A, copper, iron, and B vitamins (including B12). This is why liver usually makes up about half of the total organ portion.
Spleen — A strong source of iron and vitamin B12, both important for healthy blood.
Pancreas — Naturally contains digestive enzymes along with B vitamins; some raw feeders like to rotate it in to support digestion.
Heart — Technically a muscle rather than a secreting organ, but it's grouped with organs in raw feeding because of its rich nutrient profile — especially taurine, CoQ10, and B vitamins, which matter a lot for cats and active dogs.
Gizzard — Also a muscle rather than a secreting organ, gizzard is lean and packs a good dose of zinc, manganese, and B12.
Start Small, Especially at First
Organs are rich. That's exactly what makes them valuable, and also why they deserve a gentle introduction. If your dog hasn't had much organ meat before, ease into it with small amounts rather than a full serving right out of the gate. Rich foods introduced too quickly are the most common reason dogs get loose stools, and that's easy to avoid simply by going slow at the start. Once your dog is used to it, organ meat becomes a totally normal, well-tolerated part of the rotation.
Organ Meats You'll Find at Unifour Natural Pet Foods
We carry a rotating selection of organ meats across several proteins, so there's usually an easy option whether you're balancing a bowl yourself or just adding variety. Stock shifts week to week, so it's always worth a quick check of our Currently In Stock page before planning your pets' meals for the week.
Here's what we regularly carry:
Products In Stock Today:
Out of Stock but look for them soon!
Ground Beef Organ Mix (My Pet Carnivore) — a pre-blended mix of organs, primarily liver, $10.99
Fine Ground Beef Heart (My Pet Carnivore) $9.25
Freeze-Dried Beef Liver $14.75
Turkey Livers $6
Turkey Hearts $20
Ground Lamb Spleen $6
The takeaway: organs belong in the bowl regularly, they should be introduced gradually if they're new to your dog, and beyond that, this really isn't something to overthink.
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